Jessica Stephenson
Cardiff University & Bristol University
Supervisor(s): Joanna Cable & Gabrielle Archard, & Julian Partridge
How an individual’s mate choice preferences change over time is an understudied area of evolutionary ecology. Condition-dependent variation in mate choice preferences between individual female guppies has been demonstrated. It is likely, though little tested, that there is also within-individual variation in preference because condition will change through time. One mechanism by which preferences may vary both between and within individuals is through alteration in the rank females attribute to each of the several cues used during mate choice. These cues in guppies have been well studied; in healthy females mate choice appears to be based largely on visual cues, females prefer males with intense carotenoid colouration and high display rate. The role of olfaction in guppy mate choice has received little attention and is uncertain, though it is through olfaction that animals (including fish) assess MHC compatibility. Susceptibility to parasites is linked to MHC genotype in guppies, so choosing mates based on MHC compatibility is likely to increase guppy reproductive fitness. Olfactory cues may also serve to ‘prime’ the visual system, as has been found in zebrafish. I am using a range of behavioural experiments to test hypotheses relating to condition dependent, within individual variation in the use of information from different sensory modalities in a mate choice context.
Contact:
Cardiff School of Biosciences,
Biomedical Sciences Building,
Museum Avenue,
Cardiff
CF10 3AX
Email: stephensonjf@cf.ac.uk